Global Liberation Army

Name: Global Liberation Army (GLA)*Type:* Transnational armed organisation*Area of operation:* The Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa*Leadership:* GLA Supreme Command / Mohmar ‘Deathstrike’*Known headquarters:* Akmola, Kazakhstan*Specialities:* Guerrilla warfare, terrorism, chemical weapons and salvage*Status:* Fragmented following the war against the GLA

The Global Liberation Army, or GLA, is a clandestine armed organisation primarily opposed to the United States and China in Command & Conquer: Generals and Zero Hour.

Its exact origins remain unknown, but the organisation has been active since at least 1995, when it was already in control of a district of Cairo. It has gradually forged links with various insurgent groups, criminal networks and Arms Dealers.

The GLA is neither a state nor a conventional army. It brings together under a single banner insurgents, mercenaries, criminals, Terrorists and fighters who present themselves as liberators.

Highly decentralised, it operates through autonomous cells scattered across several countries. These include, notably, Prince Kassad’s Cobra cell and Rodall Juhziz’s Scorpion cell. A mysterious GLA Supreme Command appears to coordinate the whole operation, whilst Mohmar ‘Deathstrike’ eventually becomes its chief military leader.

The GLA claims to be fighting the major powers and regimes it regards as imperialist and oppressive, asserting that it acts on behalf of disadvantaged populations.

However, its methods largely contradict this propaganda: the organisation does not hesitate to attack civilians, divert humanitarian aid or use chemical and biological weapons, notably anthrax.

Lacking both American technology and Chinese manpower, the GLA has developed a doctrine based on mobility, stealth, Sleeper Ambushes and the capture of enemy equipment.

Its fighters mainly use weapons sourced from the Black Market, including Technicals, Scorpion Tanks, Quad cannons, rocket launchers, car bombs and improvised explosives, supplemented by Tunnel Networks enabling them to move their forces rapidly.

GLA buildings are themselves designed for asymmetric warfare: inexpensive and quick to construct, they feature escape hatches allowing their workers to rebuild destroyed facilities.

The GLA funds its operations through the Black Market, looting, the diversion of resources and clandestine financial support. Some leaders also control strategic resources, such as the oil facilities used by Dr Thrax to fund his research.

During the first conflict, it launched a major offensive in China, seizing nuclear materials in particular and making extensive use of chemical weapons. The United States intervened and eventually destroyed its headquarters, though it failed to eliminate the organisation once and for all.

In Zero Hour, the GLA takes advantage of the United States’ gradual withdrawal to strike in Europe, where it manages to establish a significant military presence. In particular, it destroys an American Aircraft Carrier and seizes enemy technology and equipment.

China eventually takes the lead in the counter-offensive, methodically pushing back the GLA and liberating Europe, bringing its occupation to an end.

This defeat fragments the organisation and results in the death or capture of several of its leaders, but its clandestine operations allow it to survive in the form of scattered cells.

Among its most famous figures are Mohmar ‘Deathstrike’, Dr Thrax, Prince Kassad, Rodall ‘Demo’ Juhziz, Jarmen Kell and Kanwar Khan, each representing a different facet of its military doctrine.

The GLA thus embodies asymmetric warfare in the Generals universe: an organisation incapable of competing head-on with the superpowers, but one that is extremely difficult to eradicate thanks to its decentralised structure, its capacity for improvisation and its ability to turn its enemies’ resources into new weapons.

Non-canonical content - from the cancelled Command & Conquer: Generals 2 project>
Around ten years after its defeat in Europe, the GLA has not disappeared. Its surviving cells have remained underground and have gradually rebuilt their organisation. By operating primarily through non-governmental organisations, they have amassed funds, equipment, fighters and territory until they were once again capable of waging a large-scale war.

This new GLA has become far more international than the predominantly Middle Eastern organisation of its early days. It now brings together fighters and leaders from many regions of the world, notably Europe, Africa, Central Asia and Latin America.

Taking advantage of international tensions, the GLA is fomenting rebellions in several satellite states, triggering a new world war pitting three major powers against one another: the GLA, the militarised European Union (EU) and the Asia-Pacific Alliance (APA), dominated by China.

The organisation retains its traditional methods - guerrilla warfare, sabotage, attacks, chemical weapons and improvised explosive devices - whilst possessing a modernised arsenal. It also uses the media for propaganda purposes, notably the ARC News channel, which broadcasts statements from the GLA command.

This restructured GLA was to be represented by numerous specialist generals, including Dr Thrax, Mahmud ‘Tactician’ ’ Abdul-Muhsi, Adela ‘Nitro’ Baskova, Ultarak ‘Junkyard’ Nazarbayev, Mose ‘Wild Dog’ Akinjide, Pavel ‘Kitbash’ Adamek, Catrina ‘Muerta ’ Posada and Danko, whilst veteran Jarmen Kell was also set to make a comeback.

The cancellation of Generals 2 in 2013 prevented this second war against the GLA from being fully developed. These events are therefore not part of the established canon of the Generals universe.